Troublesome Cats
by Pokemon67
Summary: Summary: Troublesome Cats was a good way to describe Meredith Grey's roommates. They somehow always managed to go through her stuff and find things she doesn't want them to see. On a lazy day off, Izzie manages to uncover a fact about Meredith's upbringing that she didn't want known.


**Me: Another Grey's Anatomy fan fic. This one is actually a decent length. Hope you enjoy!**

 **Oh, and this is set late season 3.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

— _Pokemon67 apologizes for any and all grammatical errors, especially if you come across Izzie's name spelled as Ozzie, because apparently spellcheck thinks that's a much more normal name—_

It was a quiet Tuesday afternoon— a rare thing the interns at Seattle Grace Hospital experienced. The day stretched out gloriously in front of them, filled with ideas of things they could do.

It drove them crazy.

Some had someone to spend the day with. George, for instance, was meeting Callie for lunch after her shift. Cristina was with Burke at their apartment (no doubt studying and complaining about the day off to Burke, who would just smirk at his girlfriend's boredom). Alex had been out late the night before, and had apparently decided to sleep the day away, for he had not emerged from his room. And Meredith, after cleaning both bathrooms and vacuuming the whole house (which, still, Alex slept through) was now at the kitchen table folding her fourth load of laundry.

Izzie, however, had nothing to do.

Normally when boredom struck, she would go into the kitchen and bake. But since last week when she had been given the morning off, she had accidentally broken the oven. The details were still fuzzy, but after putting the fire out and Meredith buying a new oven, she had been banned from the kitchen.

Izzie had accepted her punishment gracefully, figuring the second the muffins gave out and Meredith and Alex had to go to work hungry, the ban would be lifted and she'd get to bake again. This might still be the case, but there were still seven bags of muffins in the freezer. Izzie had a long time to wait.

This afternoon, Izzie had decided to clean her room. She'd made her bed, organized her bedside table, and went through her clothes and found a pile of stuff she could donate. Pleased with herself, she went down to the kitchen to ask Meredith if she could borrow her car.

''Not right now, Izzie,'' Meredith explained as she loaded up her laundry basket to take it upstair. ''I'm meeting Derek for lunch.''

Izzie sighed. ''Great. Now what do I do?''

''I could take the clothes for you.''

''Oh no, you don't get to take my chore. You wouldn't share cleaning the house this morning. There you were, vacuuming away while I went mad with boredom.''

''I'm sorry,'' Meredith conceded. ''To make up for it, would you like to put my laundry away?''

''Of course I can! After all, pathetic Izzie doesn't have McDreamy to meet for lunch,'' Izzie scoffed. Meredith sighed and was about to lift the basket. ''No, I was serious, leave it. I need something to do.''

''Okay then,'' Meredith said, letting the basket be. ''Thanks. I'm going to go then.''

''Bye. Hey, do you mind if I put the clothes in the attic for now?''

''I can take them for you—''

''There she goes again! Meredith Grey, hogging all the chores since 19—''

''Okay! Sorry I asked!''

…..

After putting Meredith's laundry away (which only took about 10 seconds: clearly on top of cleaning the house Meredith had also organized her drawers) Izzie took her box of clothes to the attic. The air was dusty when Izzie opened the door and she began to hope she could maybe organize the attic. Her hopes were dashed when she entered the room. Though dusty and packed with furniture, it was as well organized as one could get a storage area to be.

Izzie sighed and walked over to a dresser and plopped her box down. She winced as she heard a clatter as something fell down. ''Drat,'' she whispered. She was so sure her box would fit without knocking anything down. She got on her knees and reached underneath. After some fiddling, she managed to pull out what had fallen.

''Huh,'' she commented. It was a small container filled with old notebooks and receipts. Though knowing Meredith, there was probably some system to these things being put in the same place. Izzie reached up and placed the container back on the dresser. She reached underneath one last time to make sure nothing else fell out. Her hand grasped a hard object and when she sat back up she was holding a camera.

Izzie turned the camera over in her hand. It was old, but it must've once been the best video camera of it's day. Interested, Izzie sat back on her heels and turned it on, pressing play on the first video.

She was surprised to see a very familiar hall. There were people walking past in the hall, all wearing scrubs. This was video of Seattle Grace Hospital.

As the photographer walked, the people turned to look at them. They stopped in front of a young man and woman. A little girl's voice from behind the camera asked, _''What's your name, and what's your favorite part about working in a hospital?''_

 _The nurse smiled as she answered the girl. ''My name is Rachel, and my favorite part is getting to help so many people!''_

 _Her companion turned to look at the camera. ''My name is Henry and my favorite part is getting paid.'' He winked at the little girl and she laughed._

 _The little girl continued walking. She repeated her question to another man. ''My name's Dennis and I think my job is fascinating.''_

'' _I'm Emily and my favorite part are my coworkers, who have become my friends!''_

'' _I'm David and I like all the busyness.''_

'' _Kelli. I don't know my favorite part but it ain't the food.''_

'' _Joe.''_

'' _Nell.''_

'' _Kyle.''_

There were so many people the little girl asked. And by the way they all jokingly and friendly responded to her question, they all knew her very well.

 _The camera focused on another woman, who was gathering some papers. Like with the others, the little girl asked her question. The woman turned to the camera. ''You know my name. And my favorite part is feeling accomplished.''_

Izzie was surprised. She had only met the woman once, and even though she was younger here, she knew her instantly— Ellis Grey.

 _Behind the woman was a man. He chuckled and was asked if he could answer the question. After agreeing, he responded, ''My name is Richard Webber. And my favorite part is saving lives.''_

Izzie couldn't help but laugh. It was so strange to see the chief so young.

 _The camera was handed to the first nurse the little girl had interviewed. The woman turned the camera around and the little girl's face was seen. ''So, Meredith…''_

Izzie squealed in delight. Meredith was _adorable._ She must've only been 5 or 6. Her hair was long and framed her face. She had freckles skipping across her nose and her eyes were a sparkling green. She was leaning on the counter, her chin resting on her arms.

'' _So, Meredith, what's_ your _favorite part of working in a hospital?''_

 _Meredith laughed. ''I don't work in a hospital.''_

'' _Yes you do! You're our little helper. C'mon, what's your favorite part?''_

 _Meredith swayed a little bit, a shy smile on her face. ''I think it's funny.''_

'' _What is?''_

'' _Hospital's. When people come to hospitals, they leave differently. It's funny.''_

'' _It is, isn't?''_

 _Meredith laughed._

The video ended. Izzie couldn't stop grinning. Oh, how _cute._ She couldn't wait until Meredith got home.

… _.._

''What are you doing?''

''Cursing the 1980's,'' Izzie responded to Alex's question. ''I'm trying to download a video from an old camera.''

''Here,'' Alex sighed, taking the cords from Izzie's hands.

''I hate electronics,'' she declared, happily handing the equipment over.

''We all have our strong suites,'' Alex remarked absently as he began uploading the video.

Just then the door opened and Derek walked in. ''Hey!'' Izzie greeted. She frowned when she saw he was alone. ''Where's Meredith?''

''At the hospital,'' Derek explained, walking into the room. ''She's helping Bailey with a surgery.''

''Bitch,'' Izzie and Alex said at the same time.

Derek raised an eyebrow. ''You know, when I was an intern, I enjoyed my days off.''

''Clearly we are more dedicated then you,'' Alex stated.

''What are you two doing?''

''I found an old video camera in the attic,'' Izzie explained. ''I thought it would be funny to show Meredith.''

Derek cocked his head to the side. ''You just go through her stuff?''

''Yeah.''

''Oh my god,'' he said, coming to a realization. ''That's why she has a lock on the closet and secret floor boards upstairs.''

''She put a lock on the closet?'' Alex asked.

''I would've thought the secret floorboards would be more surprising.''

''Nah, George found those the first week we moved in,'' Izzie brushed the comment away.

Derek shook his head. ''You guys are like troublesome cats.''

''Got it,'' Alex declared, handing the computer to Izzie.

''Yes!''

''Play it.''

''No, let's wait for Meredith.''

''Her surgery's going to take some time,'' Derek remarked.

Izzie smirked. ''You want to see, don't you?''

''Everyone else gets to be nosey.''

Izzie placed the computer on the table. ''It's a video made by little Meredith. She went around the hospital asking everyone why they liked working there.''

She played the video. Derek commented when he recognized person, or he remembered when that person left. Both men found it hilarious to see the chief looking so young. And both loved seeing little Meredith.

''Oh my god she was a girl scout,'' Alex laughed at her cute appearance.

''She'll be mortified you found that,'' Derek told Izzie, still grinning from seeing the little girl's shy smile.

''I know,'' Izzie said proudly.

''Hey,''Alex called their attention. ''There's another video.''

''Really?'' Izzie asked, peering over his shoulder. Alex nodded and made no move to stop the next video from playing automatically.

'' _Meredith.'' Ellis Grey looked past the camera at her daughter. ''Give that back and let's go.''_

'' _Okay.'' Meredith turned to the nurses' station and place the camera down without turning it off, so now it was facing the nurses. ''Kelli can you gives this back to Rachel, please?''_

'' _Sure, Mer,'' Kelli smiled._

'' _Bye, Meredith!'' The nurse Emily waved._

'' _Bye!''_

'' _Come along, Meredith. And put your coat on.''_

'' _That's right,'' Kelli said in a low voice and through gritted teeth as mother and daughter walked away. ''Make sure you cover up all those bruises.''_

Everyone in the room froze. It was clear that the nurses had no idea the camera was still on.

'' _What?'' Emily asked. Kelli didn't answer, but slammed the drawer she was looking though._

'' _What I wouldn't give to report that woman…''_

'' _Who are we reporting today, Kelli?'' Another person asked. She wore the coat of a surgeon. She was Penny, another one Meredith had interviewed._

'' _Ellis Grey, apparently,'' Emily said in bewilderment._

 _Penny glared at Kelli. ''I thought you were letting that go.''_

 _Kelli glared back at Penny. ''As if it's that easy.''_

'' _You can't do anything about it.''_

'' _We could report her.''_

'' _Oh yeah, let's report Ellis Grey, famous surgeon, married to a rich accountant, that she's a child beater. That woman has more money than all three of us combined. Plus, she's having an affair with the Chief of Surgery's best friend. You report her, all you are going to get is kicked out on your ass and Meredith will get a couple new bruises.''_

'' _Wait,'' Emily interrupted. ''Ellis Grey_ beats _Meredith?''_

'' _Oh no,'' Kelli said mockingly. ''She really_ did _fall down the stairs._ Again _.'' With that, she marched out of the room._

 _Emily turned back to Penny. ''Really?''_

 _Penny shook her head sadly. ''I think Meredith_ falls _a little too often, don't you?''_

'' _But— but why?''_

'' _Why does any sicko do that? Maybe it's Ellis. Maybe it's Thatcher because he knows of Ellis' affair and it taking it out on his daughter. Or maybe it's both of them. Whoever it is, it's best not to get involved.''_

'' _But if Meredith is actually in trouble—''_

'' _We can't do anything about it. No one wants to hear it. Can you imagine the bad publicity for the hospital if the famous Ellis Grey was in any way associated with the term child beater?'' A silence fell over them._

'' _Last month,'' Emily began. ''Meredith was treated for a broken rib—''_

'' _Don't, Emily,'' Penny shook her head. ''Just. Don't. Ask.''_

'' _Don't ask what?'' Another voice said._

'' _Rachel!'' Penny greeted. ''Hey. Meredith left your camera here.''_

'' _Oh! Good, thanks.'' Rachel reached for the camera, shutting it off without realizing it had been recording._

The three people in the living room sat there in stunned silence. The front door opened. ''Hey!'' Meredith greeted. She paused when she saw their solemn faces. ''Wow, something wrong?''

They all jolted out of their thoughts. ''No,'' Derek said, standing up to greet her. Alex quickly turned the computer off and handed it to Izzie. ''How was the surgery?''

''It went well. Much more fun then laundry.'' She kissed him hello and glanced into the living room. ''Are you sure you're okay?''

Izzie nodded. ''Yeah. Um, Alex was just trying to help with some computer stuff.''

''Okay,'' Meredith said. There was an awkward silence. ''Okay. Goodnight.''

''Goodnight,'' Both Alex and Izzie responded.

Meredith and Derek went up the stairs. ''Did they break something I don't know about yet?'' She asked.

Derek chuckled halfheartedly. ''I don't think so.''

Meredith didn't look convinced, but she didn't say anymore.

…..

Something was off, that much Meredith could tell. From when she woke up that morning and saw Derek watching her sleep again she knew something wasn't right. ''Don't tell me you can hear me snoring through the earplugs?''

Derek looked startled by the question. ''No,'' he said. He smiled. ''Actually, your snoring is much better now that it's spring.''

Meredith nodded. ''Probably because of allergies.''

Derek nodded before getting up. Meredith watched him as he got ready. ''Hey.''

''What?''

''What's up? Did I do something wrong?''

''No. Why would you think that?''

''You seem upset.''

Derek blinked. ''So obviously I must be upset at you?''

Meredith shrugged. ''Go with the obvious.''

Derek didn't respond, but walked toward the bathroom. ''Derek.''

''Yeah?''

''You never answered my question. Is something wrong?''

''No.'' At her doubtful look, he smirked. ''Honest.''

Meredith sighed as the bathroom door closed behind him. She knew her people. Something wasn't right.

…..

Meredith went downstairs to the kitchen, taking note of all the knick knacks to see if any were missing or chipped. No. So if anything was broken, it wasn't too obvious.

Once in the kitchen, she glanced at the shelves for broken dishes, and the cabinet for spilled food.

''What are you doing?'' Izzie asked as she and Alex entered the kitchen.

''Checking to see if the new oven still works.'' Meredith said, turning the burners off.

''I haven't touched it,'' Izzie said defensively.

''Well, what have you touched?'' Meredith stood there in the kitchen, studying her roommates' faces. ''You guys have had these looks on your faces ever since last night. Now, is something broken?''

''No,'' the two said in unison.

''What's wrong?'' Derek asked, fixing his coat as he entered the kitchen.

''That's what I'm trying to find out.'' Meredith fixed her gaze on him. ''Is anyone going to tell me why you all look guilty?''

Alex looked at the clock. ''It's getting late—''

''No one leaves until I know why you all are acting so weird!''

Just then a pager went off. ''Saved by the bell,'' Derek said waving it proudly and walking to the door.

''Can I scrub in?'' Izzie ran after him.

Alex watched as the two left. ''They ditched me.''

''The guilty save themselves,'' Meredith commented. She stared at him. ''Now, is there something wrong?''

Alex shrugged. ''Nah. In my opinion, they are always that weird.''

Meredith sighed and poured herself and Alex coffee. She handed him the mug. ''I don't like feeling lied to.''

''No one's lying to you.''

''When I came in last night, all three of you looked guilty. I half expected to have to put out another fire.''

Alex smirked. Then he put his coffee down. ''I guess we were feeling a little guilty,'' he admitted. Meredith raised an eyebrow. ''I mean, we didn't set anything on fire or break anything, but we kinda did something we shouldn't have.''

''What?''

Alex sighed. ''Okay, so Izzie had found an old video camera in the attic yesterday. She watched the video and it was you as a kid asking the hospital staff what they liked about working there.''

Meredith frowned. ''Okay, so you watched an embarrassing clip of me as a child. That's not the worst thing you've done without my permission.''

''Yeah,'' Alex sighed, trying to find the words to continue. ''Well, after that, there was another clip on the tape. It was your mom's coworkers talking about you.''

''About me?''

''Yeah.''

''Okay. What about me?''

''About your…home life.''

''My home life,'' Meredith repeated slowly. It was clear she didn't understand what Alex was getting at.

''They were commenting on how often you fell down the stairs,'' he said quietly. ''How they didn't think that was all true.''

Understanding dawned on Meredith's face. ''Oh,'' she said quietly.

''Yeah,''Alex said, looking away in was silence for a few minutes. ''Sorry.''

Meredith shook herself. ''You don't have to be,'' she said. ''Really, it's fine. Just, don't lie to me in future, okay?''

Alex nodded and Meredith got up. ''You were right before. It is getting late. You need a ride?''

… _.._

Izzie closed her locker and was startled to see Meredith's face right in front of her. ''God!''

''So, when I say ' _ask before you touch my stuff',_ what does that mean to you?''

Izzie blinked in confusion before she understood the message. ''You told her?'' she asked Alex as he walked by.

''Of course he told me. You had no right going through my personal things without my permission,'' Meredith said.

''What'd you do?'' Cristina asked as she fixed her ponytail.

''Izzie and Alex just went through some of my things without asking,'' Meredith explained.

''Listen, Mer, I'm sorry—'' Izzie said, her face red.

''Just don't do it again, okay?''

''…Okay.''

''Good. Let's forget, please?'' She looked at Izzie expectantly.

Izzie nodded. ''Sure. It's forgotten.''

''Good.'' Meredith smiled.

Cristina yawned. ''Let's go before all the good cases are taken. God, I hope I get a good, bloody surgery.''

The interns filed out of the room. As she passed Izzie, Meredith gave her hand a squeeze. Izzie understood what it meant: _don't ask. Thanks for the concern, but just. Don't. Ask._

… _.._

It had been a long day. It was late when they all got home, and later still when they all managed to get comfortable in their beds. Meredith was laying next to Derek, her eyes closed. But she was awake, and could feel him awake next to her, watching.

Finally she opened her eyes to look into his. ''Stop.''

''Stop what?''

''You said you want to stop breathing for me. So stop looking for a reason to keep doing it.''

The phrasing startled Derek. ''I don't—''

''I know about the video,'' Meredith admitted. ''I don't want you to look at me like I'm something to be pitied. I'm not. I am strong, independent, and don't need my roommates to feel weird around me.''

''I didn't mean to make you feel weird. I'm sorry.''

''Please forget you ever saw that video.''

Derek nodded his understanding as Meredith rolled over to her side. He laid down and wrapped his arms around her. ''The idea of you being hurt, hurts,'' he whispered hesitantly.

''That's how it's supposed to be for the people you care about,'' Meredith whispered back.

The silence echoed around them. ''Just one question—''

''Derek—''

''One question and I will never bring it up again.'' Meredith sighed. ''Were they right?''

Meredith took her time in answering. ''Yes.''

Derek nodded and didn't speak again. He laid still as Meredith fell asleep, listening to her breathe.

 **Me: Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed. Please leave a review if you can.**

 **Happy Writing!**


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